Teach at La Paz Community School Guanacaste, Costa Rica

I have observed a lesson format at La Paz that begins with a warm-up, consisting of a few different moves. In the warm up below, middle school math teacher, Emily, poses a problem to be solved collaboratively to the class as a way to activate schema and front load new academic language. Cara, 6th grade social studies teacher, asks two essential questions that guide her subsequent lesson about the discovery of Lucy, the name given to the 3.2 million-year old fossil skeleton of a very early human ancestor found in Ethiopia in 1974.  Her body was 40% complete, based upon the bones discovered.  The questions Cara asked the students - Why was Lucy such an important discovery?  What does Lucy tell us about early humans? - were not necessarily intended to be immediately answered. They were intended to generate thought, questions, hypotheses.  The majority of lesson time is then allocated to student working, applying the newly learned concepts, either independently or in sma...

The purpose of this blog is to offer SCSU students a window into the La Paz's Visiting Educator program.  In this program, University students are matched with educators within the grade band of the certification they are seeking, ie elementary grades 1-6.  This program is also available to secondary educators who are pursuing content-specific certifications in sciences, math, and languages. This program is also open to candidates apprenticing to be specials educators in the areas of music, arts and physical education.   You will find secondary science teacher, Alejandra, delivering a lesson on galaxies along with students' note-taking guides and student-created word walls, illuminating the variations within galaxies. Peek into Carlos' 6th grade math lesson to witness the continuum of learning of learning from setting a purpose for learning, to preview, review and apply (in pairs) and then to assess to ensure objectives are met: Traveling is always a win but pairing ...

There is one aspect of La Paz's school day that I found interesting and it is a learning space called "Anchor," or "Anclas."  Anchor provides students the opportunity to enact the school's core values of self, family, community and world in meaningful, applicable ways that provide rich, relevant and transformative educational experiences.   A few shots taken across Tempisque campus where I found sites of Anclas collaborative work: More about Anchor from the General Director of La Paz Community School, Abel McClennen (Jan 2015): All La Paz students in grades k-12 participate in a yearlong consistent interaction with their school and community through a variety of anchor projects that are grade specific. Students focus at least one block per week on one particular experiential learning focus that is geared towards service learning. Through the study of Energy Flows, Nutrient Cycles, and Community Dynamics, La Paz students gain a profound understanding of their...

La Paz Community School offers two locations, each with approximately 425 students throughout grades PreK through 12. The campus that I have been more closely associated with simply because of proximity and frequency of visits (and my daughter attended trimester 1 of the seventh grade) has been Cabo Velas. The majority of the photos posted thus far have reflect this campus, which is a bit closer to the beachside communities of Portrero, Flamingo, Brasilito, and Tamarindo.  Gardens throughout the campus                   Students tend to natural spaces as part of curricular studies However, the other campus, which is approximately an hour north of Cabo Velas, is named Tempisque. This campus is about ten minutes west of the largest city in Guanacaste, Liberia, and has more of an urban vibe.  The student population at this location draws more from local families, more Spanish dominant, who are native to the area along with an...

At dual language schools, educators teach discipline-specific content and language, simultaneously. They consistently attend to language development and plan lessons that leverage multimodalities to convey meaning around dense, academic concepts.  In addition to differentiating for the ways in which students learn, teachers in dual language classrooms carefully scaffold lesson sequences to ensure adequate linguistic support across English and Spanish proficiencies.  At the onset of the lesson, teachers share the essential question to guide the learning endeavor. It is critical students understand why they are learning what they are learning.  Lessons designed with the dual purpose of teaching content and language have clear, measurable objectives to make visible the language functions required to accomplish the lesson's goals. The language functions connect the cognitive tasks of the lesson with the language necessary to accomplish such tasks.  In this example, a sci...

Despite what I had heard about the rainy season beginning in August and stretching through November, the majority of my days in Guanacaste have been sunny and dry.  Few days have been filled with rain but even during the downpours, joy can be heard across campus. Kids carry on being kids, recess remains scheduled and even administrators take turns on the courts.  Liz Reinemo, secondary school principal, lands her shot on net Positive energy all around, even when the skies are cloudy.  There is something cleansing and refreshing about this rain. It's warm and enough of it to wash away all that came before and start anew!

Three cheers for la cocina and the dedicated staff who work behind the scenes planning meals, ensuring nutritional value, filling plates and dishing out deeelish day in and day out!  There are vegetarian options available and every Wednesday is pasta day (my daughter's favorite).  Menu changes monthly.  Students and teachers sign up for meal plans each month for approximately $135.  Though there is one central cocina on campus, the cocina staff set up in 4 locations to maintain smooth flow of food pick up and tray drop off, one for each grade band, e.g. K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12.   La cocina central, adjacent to Chirripó (highschool); Staff prep trays in Tenorio (middle school) Lentils and rice with fried cheese, salad and fresh pineapple Chirripó students sitting in courtyard (background) enjoying lunch together Lunch waste is minimal. In fact, the only place to dump your leftovers is in small clay pots. One medium size pot accommodates the waste for each school...